Here, in a deceptively peacefal mode, Holland VI returns from a trial run. The first modern submarine, she became the first submarine in the US Navy in 1900. (US Navy)
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Only a man as small as John Holland could fit inside the little sub with irs primitive petroleum engine between his knees and his head in the tu rret. Holland put the sub through its paces for the benefit of rhe Fenian s. T he vessel submerged, ran along underwater, and resurfaced successfully. The inventor capped off the day by staying down for an hour. After completing trials, Holland sank rhesub for security. In 1923 ir was raised by a group of students and donated to the museum at Paterson, New Jersey. Ir is now on loan to the Intrepid Museum's "Prepare to Dive" exhibit, where the restoration ream built the sub a new conning rower, dive planes, and propeller. T he Fenians financed a fully operational three-man submarine capable of attacking British warships. The 31-foor-long Fenian Ram, armed with a pneumatic gun, performed well in rests, bur financial squabbling within rhe organization, and one faction's threat to have a bank attach rhe Ram, led others to secretly row it and a smaller experimental sub to New Haven, Connecticut. The smaller sub sank in the East River and has never been found. This ended Holland's involvement with the Fenians. The Ram, left in Connecticut for many years, is now on display at the Paterson Museum. Over the next several years Holland struggled to interest the US Navy in his submarine designs. In 1893, his atto rney, Elihu Frost, incorporated the Holland Torpedo Boar Company (H TB) with the intention of pursuing government contracts. In 1895, after a drawn-o ur series of design competitions, rhe Navy awarded HTB a con tract ro build a submarine named Plunger. Unreal istic performance requirements and Navy meddling doomed the Plunger from the start. Realizing the project wo uld nor produce a viable submarine, HTB financed and built a totally different boar which became known as Holland VI.
SEA HISTORY 95, WINTER 2000-01
The visionary inventor inspects his very practical creation, Holland VI, in drydock. This astonishing boat of 1900 anticipates elements of the most advanced nuclear submarines of today, with her hydrodynamic hull, torpedoes firedfrom tubes inside the hull, andpowerplant and controls designed to "fly" the boat through underwater space. (US Navy) Free from Navy second-guessing, Holland VI was launched on 17May1897. In 1899 railroad millionaire Isaac Rice brought much-needed capital to HTB and incorporated the Electric Boar Company, with HTB as a subsidiary. The Navy eventually saw rhe light and bought Holland VI in 1900, commissioning her as the first US Navy submarine on 12 October. Additional Navy contracts followed, building a relationship with Electric Boar, which continues today as a division of General Dynamics, rhe world's leading builder of submarines. Although Holland had succeeded in developing rhe modern submarine, he was forced our of the company in 1904. Government contracts and mass production had eclipsed pioneering. Still, Holland pursued independent submarine design until his death in 1914. Soon after the outbreak of World War I in rharsameyear, a single German U-boar sank three British cruisers. Defying Britain's superiority in surface warships, German submarines went on to come dangerously close to cutting Bri rain's viral rransArlantic supply line in both World Wars. During WWII, the US submarine service did even better in isolating the island nation of Japan. The Japanese merchant marine was reduced from its prewar strength of six million tons to barely one million, with sinkings by US submarines accounting for 60 percent of the losses, far outweighing sinkings by aircraft and surface ships combined. Submarines also landed Marines in daring raids on Japanese rerri-
rory and plucked 504 downed American airmen from Japanese waters. These achievements came at high cost-one our of five submariners was killed in action. In the service these men and their boars are remembered as being "on eternal patrol. " During the Co ld Wa r, American subs went nuclear and played a major role in keep ing both the Soviet surface navy and submarine threat in check. On a global level, the US Sub Force has helped maintain a powerful strategic deterrence that has prevented conflict, rhwarted aggression, and allowed peace to survive and flourish. Thousands ofAmerican submariners have played a role in this legacy, and thousands more continue to serve this nation, and the cause of freedom, beneath the seas. ,t Intrepid Museum, 12th Avenue and 46th Street, New York NY 10036; 212 2450072; www.intrepidmuseum.org USS Nauti lus, seen here approaching New York in 1955, was the first of the nuclearpowered submarines which are today the ultimate weapon ofsea control, and the principal deterrent to all-out war. (US Navy)
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